Stickman's 2013 Glog - Time To Pull The Plug on 2013

I'm pulling things together to get ready for my next growing season. I bought NuMex variety seeds from Sandia Seed company in New Mexico, Hot Paper Lantern Habaneros and Antohi Romanians from Johnny's Select Seeds in Maine and Korean varieties from Evergreen Seeds in California. Due to the unbelievable generosity of a number of THP members I've also gotten seeds to a wide variety of chiles from around the world. Special thanks to BootsieB, stc3248, romy6, PaulG, SoCalChilehead, joynershotpeppers, highalt, cmpman1974, smokemaster, mygrassisblue, Mister No, chewi, KingDenniz, orrozconleche and most recently and spectacularly, Habanerohead with a great selection of superhots and peppers from Hungary!

There are eleven varieties of Hungarian peppers in here, mostly the early, thick-fleshed, sweet ones that range from white through yellow to purple and red.., plus Aji Lemon Drop, BJ Indian Carbon, Naga Morich, Bishop's Crown and TS CARDI Yellow! Now I just have to go through my seed bank and match the space available to what I want to grow. Thanks Balázs!

 

[FreeportBum]

Powder looks great Rick and nice yellow 7. I use a lot of smoked paprika here, do you ever make any smoked powders? All the best and happy Friday

 

[Trippa]

Yum that paprika looks the shiz Rick!!  What is your favourite Chilli for Paprika/powder??  I know you love your Gochu's ...

 

[stickman]

Yup, I sure do Devan. Last year I smoked 5 pounds of ripe Jalapenos to make Moritas.
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/28300-stickmans-2012-gochu-pepper-glog/page-38#entry700118
I dried and ground enough to make a pint of Chipotle powder and used the rest to make a killer BBQ sauce base. To make the BBQ glaze, I mix a half cup of the base with a can of 7-UP, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, a cup of ketchup and a half a teaspoon of garlic powder.

Yum that paprika looks the shiz Rick!!  What is your favourite Chilli for Paprika/powder??  I know you love your Gochu's ...

I've only grown the Gochus before, and now the Hungarian Sweet paprika as well. Both have a similar flavor and aroma, and make great powders, but the Gochus have moderate heat... I'd say a little less than a Jalapeno, but put enough of it on your food and you'll get a nice burn... I use a whole cup of gochugaru in a batch of kimchi.
 
To answer your question, I'd have to say the Hungarian for sweet paprika, and the Gochus for hot paprika.
 
I won't have enough of the Hungarians to make smoked powder this year, but Devan's got me thinking, and if I get enough Gochus after bagging up 2 gallon-sized bags of dried pods I'll do up a batch for hot, smoked paprika powder.

 

[stickman]

Happy Saturday all, and time once again for the Dawn Patrol...
 
We're definitely beginning the downhill slide to winter here. The nights are noticeably longer and the average overnight temperatures are in the 50s, with occasional climbs up into the lower 60s. Some of the chiles are starting to drop leaves, but the pods continue to ripen and the stems are staying green.
JA Hot Chocolate Habanero

 
Criolla Sella

 
The rest of the potted plants are looking OK

 
The holdout Chinense varieties are beginning to show some color!
 
What I was sold as a Yellow Bhut looks like it might ripen orange

 
Butch T

 
Scotch Bonnet

 
Urfa Biber is starting to color up too

 
Today's pull... front row left to right... Chilhuacle Negro, 6-4 Anaheim and a couple of Hungarian Tomato peppers.

 
Today's Gochus

 
Today's Sweet Paprika

 
Have a great weekend all!

 

[Stefan_W]

Nice haul! The supers are getting closer, with lots of colour starting to show.
 
Those gochus look cool. Going by the amount you have strung up already I'm guessing they are a heavy producer. 

 

[stickman]

Nice haul! The supers are getting closer, with lots of colour starting to show.
 
Those gochus look cool. Going by the amount you have strung up already I'm guessing they are a heavy producer. 

You bet Stefan! This is what I've put away so far... I took Ramon's advice and made up a bag 'o desiccant by putting some white rice in a basket-type paper coffee filter and tying it off. That'll go in the gallon-sized bag of dried gochu pods. The jar is for immediate use in kimchi and cooking.
 

 
Later today, I'm gonna fire up the grill and roast the ripe Kapia peppers. The plan is to peel, seed and stem them, and freeze them until I've gotten them all in. Then I'll make Ajvar! I'll process the Anaheims on the table the same way, but they'll just be chopped and frozen after roasting/peeling.

 
Cheers!

 

[Stefan_W]

I may have to hit you up for some gochu seeds for next year, if you are saving them. 

 

[stickman]

Sure Stefan! I don't save them, because it's a hybrid variety, but I have seeds to share.

 

[wahlee76]

Plant are looking good. We have the same teperatures over here and during daytime around 70F. But still sunny.
Hopefully your other pods get a chance to ripen as well.
 
Do you take off leaves to improve ripening?

 

[stickman]

Thanks for the good vibe Wally!   No, I don't remove leaves unless they look like they're ready to fall off, are diseased, or are in the way of a good camera shot. The missing leaves on the far left potted Chocolate Hab are falling off on their own because of lack of water (I water much less when pods are ripening) and cool nights.
   Cheers!

 

[Jamison]

Rocking along in New England! There are soooo many pods on your plants. They look soo cool with the clusters of chilies. I love all your pics and your preserving techniques. Keep it coming Sticky!

 

[WalkGood]

Super nice pulls you are getting Rick, I love the look of all your pods & veggies, pics keep getting better if that’s possible. Beautiful seeing the Gochu pods all strung up, Hungarian Paprika looks cool in the dehydrator and all da others mon …
 
Very good description & pictures on your Yellow 7 mon. I love to read that others focus on the flavor too and how you stated it has “overtones of peach and tangerine flavor.” But you thru me off saying "off citrus" taste? Sure I love da heat picante or I probably wouldn’t be growing and eating half the stuff I do but the burn is just an added bonus IMO. Great job on the heat description as well, I truely enjoy reading written reviews like books over video but maybe that's just me. BTW I don't mean to negate all the sweet peppers cause I love dem too \o/ almost once a week or more we'll grill one whole, I love how whole they keep all da flavors in till your ready to serve and eat.
 
Your plants and pod porn looking great mon ... happy someone took me up on DIY desiccant. I use dem packs in many things and rice is cheap, funny thing is that I don’t use coffee filters so I have to clip borrow some from work, lol.
 
Have a great weekend brethren ^_^

 

[Devv]

Wow Rick, 50's already? Our overnight temps have been between 77-79, day times around 100. I hope you get your full harvest! I see the Annuum's have been doing really well for you!
 
So I made another batch today of the Hab sauce LOL I had the peps so what the heck...it will get used!
You had asked a few days ago how much the first batch made, I didn't know the size of the jars at the time, had to ask the boss. It made 9 1/2 pint jars, I put it in canning jars, didn't have any sauce bottles...
 
Have a great weekend!

 

[stickman]

Rocking along in New England! There are soooo many pods on your plants. They look soo cool with the clusters of chilies. I love all your pics and your preserving techniques. Keep it coming Sticky!

Heck Jamiso , you do very well where you are too, and stretched out between two distant locations as well! Cheers bro'!

Super nice pulls you are getting Rick, I love the look of all your pods & veggies, pics keep getting better if that’s possible. Beautiful seeing the Gochu pods all strung up, Hungarian Paprika looks cool in the dehydrator and all da others mon …
 
Very good description & pictures on your Yellow 7 mon. I love to read that others focus on the flavor too and how you stated it has “overtones of peach and tangerine flavor.” But you thru me off saying "off citrus" taste? Sure I love da heat picante or I probably wouldn’t be growing and eating half the stuff I do but the burn is just an added bonus IMO. Great job on the heat description as well, I truely enjoy reading written reviews like books over video but maybe that's just me. BTW I don't mean to negate all the sweet peppers cause I love dem too \o/ almost once a week or more we'll grill one whole, I love how whole they keep all da flavors in till your ready to serve and eat.
 
Your plants and pod porn looking great mon ... happy someone took me up on DIY desiccant. I use dem packs in many things and rice is cheap, funny thing is that I don’t use coffee filters so I have to clip borrow some from work, lol.
 
Have a great weekend brethren ^_^

 
Thanks for the kudos Ramon!
   I enjoy the heat too, but it has a very strong flavor of its own that kinda pushes the rest to the side while it's running its course in my mouth. I was trying to come up with a good description of what Capsaicin tastes like to me, and "off-citrus" was as close as I could come.
   Using rice as a desiccant in with powdered and dried chiles is pure genius!... and I'm all about "field expedients" that are easy and cheap to produce, but work very well. Good on ya!

Wow Rick, 50's already? Our overnight temps have been between 77-79, day times around 100. I hope you get your full harvest! I see the Annuum's have been doing really well for you!
 
So I made another batch today of the Hab sauce LOL I had the peps so what the heck...it will get used!
You had asked a few days ago how much the first batch made, I didn't know the size of the jars at the time, had to ask the boss. It made 9 1/2 pint jars, I put it in canning jars, didn't have any sauce bottles...
 
Have a great weekend!

I'm glad you like the recipe Scott, you're certainly welcome to it! I think the things I like best about making sauces are that they take up much less space than freezing whole pods would, and don't need any additional energy input after processing. They're also less prone to oxidation than powders, and keep their flavor longer.
   Wow... a little over 2 quarts in the first batch... is your second batch bigger? I get my woozies (4 oz sauce bottles) from a local beer and winemaking supply shop, but if you want to get them by mail, you should ask Salsa Lady or Rocketman where to get them at the best price.

 

[Trippa]

Getting some nice hauls in Rick!
I hope the cold nights stave off long enough so you can get the majority of those chinenses to Ripen .. You are going to have more heat then you'll know what to do with if you do

 

[stickman]

Getting some nice hauls in Rick!
I hope the cold nights stave off long enough so you can get the majority of those chinenses to Ripen .. You are going to have more heat then you'll know what to do with if you do

 
Thanks for the good vibe Trippa... from your mouth to God's ear when it comes to ripening, eh? I wasn't sure about growing supers here, but last summer made it seem possible. We had a cold, wet spring this year, but apparently time enough to get in at least a partial harvest of them. I'd call that cause to be grateful.
   I'm also giving some thought to what I'm gonna do with them when they do come in... some powders for sure, but probably most will go into hot sauces. I lucked out with a sauce I really liked with the red Habaneros right off the bat. Now I've got to experiment with the chocolate Habs since they'll be the next ones up in quantity... I'll  probably start with Jamie's recommendations and go from there. The supers will be after them, and I might try for something a bit fruity, sweet and tropical with them. The last ones up will probably be the Magnum Orange Habs since I planted them comparatively late. Those definitely will go in something fruity since they taste best that way.
Cheers mate!

 

[Stefan_W]

Luckily the supers freeze really well. I put a pile in the freezer after last season and was using them until spring with no issue, so you will have loads of time to experiment with the chillies. 

 

[MGOLD86]

Looking great Rick! Every time I check in here there are 2 pages of pods and harvests!  I am a fan of the 7s, just enough heat to wake you up and question your motives, but then it pulls back and is nice and great burn.  My Ja Habs are puttin off pods, and unfortunately I haven't tried one yet.  After seein em in here and Ramon's love for them I gotta go and grab me a few!
 
I also got a TON of Marconi Hybrids that are just about all red.  Do you think roasing, peeling, and freezing would work like you are doing the Kapias? 

 

[stickman]

Luckily the supers freeze really well. I put a pile in the freezer after last season and was using them until spring with no issue, so you will have loads of time to experiment with the chillies. 

Thanks Stefan, that's good to know... though I think I'd remove the stems and seeds first so I can just chuck 'em in the food processor after thawing them.

 

[gnslngr]

Never listen to "never".....nice goin to get the superhots rolling up there.
Just a thought for your paprikas, LIGHTLY smoke about 1/8 to a 1/4 of the pods in a batch of the dried ones your grind for the paprika-doing them all gets to smoky , but that amount is light enough to distribute a smoky scent, and the rest are enough to keep it "fresh".NO LIQUID SMOKE!!!!!
 
Those Urfas are lookin really nice with striped ripening going on....
 
...and really who can out eat the pods thrown out by a few supers in one season?...less'n of course , you sauce em!
Have a good one-
DJ